Lehighsports.com

ANN ARBOR, Mich. – Lehigh wrapped up the 2007 portion of its schedule at the Wolverine Quad, hosted by Michigan Sunday afternoon at Cliff Keen Arena. The Mountain Hawks dropped all three of their duals, falling to Eastern Michigan 20-16, Buffalo 22-9 and finally the host and seventh ranked Wolverines 33-9. Senior Dave Nakasone led the way for the Brown and White, going 3-0 at 157, but Lehigh falls to 4-9 on the dual season.

Sunday’s opening dual pitted Lehigh against Eastern Michigan. The teams split the ten bouts with each team winning five, but a 5-1 edge in bonus points propelled the Eagles to their first ever win over Lehigh. Junior Trevor Chinn won by major decision over Drew Lesko 11-2 for Lehigh’s lone bonus win, while Nakasone, sophomores Mike Galante and Justin Allen and freshman Alex Caruso added wins by decision for the Mountain Hawks. Eastern Michigan received six big points from David Pienaar, who secured a second period pin of senior Jeff Santo. The Eagles also got major decisions from Andrew Novak, and Charlie Pienaar, who defeated freshman Kadeem Samuels, who made his varsity dual debut at 184. Sophomore Seth Ciasulli made his season dual debut with a 7-5 sudden victory loss to Sean Clair at 133.

The Mountain Hawks second dual versus Buffalo began as another close affair, with the two teams deadlocked at nine after six bouts. The key bout came at 174 where Caruso lost to Mike Ragusa 2-1 in a tiebreaker. Caruso and Ragusa were tied at one after regulation and the first sudden victory period. Ragusa rode out Caruso in the first 30 second tiebreak, but in the second tiebreak, Caruso was called twice for stalling, with the deciding penalty point awarded with just two seconds left.

Lehigh mustered just three wins by decision, with Chinn, Nakasone and Galante winning three straight from 149 to 165.

In the day’s final dual, Lehigh knew it had its hands full with a Wolverine team that was ranked seventh and boasted seven ranked individuals. Michigan won seven bouts and earned bonus points in five of those wins. All-American Josh Churella broke the dual open with a fall from the neutral position over Chinn at 149, while nationally ranked Tyrel Todd and Anthony Biondo added pins for the Wolverines at 184 and 197.

Ciasulli earned Lehigh’s first win, coming from behind to defeat Chris Diehl 5-3 at 133. Three bouts later, Nakasone completed his unblemished day, scoring a first period takedown and second period reversal before holding off 18th-ranked Jeff Marsh 4-3 at 157. Lehigh’s final win came at heavyweight, with Allen capitalizing on a second period reversal to defeat Chad Bleske 3-2.

The Mountain Hawks will return to the mats on Friday, as they open 2008 inside Leeman-Turner Arena against the Stanford Cardinal. Match time is set for 7 p.m. and tickets can be purchased by calling 610-7LU-GAME or by visiting the Lehigh ticket office located in Grace Hall.

Eastern Michigan 20 Lehigh 16

Buffalo 22 Lehigh 9

Michigan 33 Lehigh 9